Appointments to receive a dose of the Pfizer vaccine have been fully booked in Yellowknife just one day after they were announced.
The 504 appointments were fully booked in around two hours, according to David Maguire, spokesperson for the Health and Social Services Authority.
Those cover clinics on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, with another clinic set to be announced sometime around Wednesday next week, added Maguire.
People who are currently isolating due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak at N.J. Macpherson will be able to contact the Health and Social Services Authority and request an isolation exemption to go and receive a dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
According to Maguire, with the clinic also being run in Behchokǫ̀, that would use up the current supply of Pfizer vaccines the territory has — a shipment of 1,100 vaccines arrived on Tuesday. The GNWT is working on acquiring another shipment of the vaccine in the coming weeks, said Maguire.
Then clinics will be set up in various NWT communities depending on demand.
The Pfizer vaccine shipment comes at a point where the territory’s vaccination uptake rate had seen a “lull,” according to Health Minister Julie Green. Green highlighted the fact that younger people had one of the lowest vaccine rates as being an area of concern moving forward.
But Maguire said he was impressed by the quick take-up of Pfizer vaccine appointments, adding he wasn’t surprised because the same thing happened when Moderna vaccines were made available.
“We have seen an uptick since COVID has become a reality and in Yellowknife doubling almost the appointments for first doses daily,” he said. “We want to keep that going and we want people to show up and get their vaccine.”
Currently, more than 21,000 people are fully vaccinated with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
